Recommended Restaurants in Vienna

I lived in Vienna for almost ten years — long enough to explore its dining scene in depth and to see how the city balances tradition with quiet modernity.
These are my personal favourites: a mix of modern Viennese cuisine, Michelin-level dining, and authentic local institutions.

Restaurant Vestibül

Modern Viennese food + classics

Located in one of the side wings of the Burgtheater, the dining room is magnificent — marble columns, high ceilings, and a sense of imperial grandeur.
The cuisine reinterprets Viennese classics with elegance and restraint.
Service is polished but relaxed. One of my favourite places for modern Viennese cooking.
(Last visited a few months ago — still excellent.)

Steirereck im Stadtpark

Tasting menus, fine dining

One of only two restaurants in Austria awarded three Michelin stars, Steirereck is perhaps the country’s most renowned dining destination. Housed in a modern glass pavilion within Vienna’s Stadtpark, it combines architectural clarity with culinary precision.

The tasting menus are deeply rooted in Austrian ingredients and traditions, interpreted with extraordinary finesse and technical mastery. Reservations can be difficult (lunch is usually easier), but the experience is formal, elegant, and consistently exceptional.

For a relaxed version, visit the Meierei next door — perfect for lunch.
Steirereck also operates a countryside restaurant about 90 minutes from Vienna, a beautiful hideaway.

Mraz & Sohn

Avant-garde tasting menu

Creative, daring and precise — Markus Mraz and his son Lukas represent the young, experimental side of Austrian gastronomy.
Expect a bold, witty tasting menu served in a modest part of town.
One of Vienna’s most exciting dining experiences.

Plachutta Wollzeile

Classic Viennese dishes

The institution for traditional Viennese cuisine — Tafelspitz, Wiener Schnitzel, veal goulash.
Busy and a bit hurried, but execution is flawless.
Go for lunch and taste Vienna’s culinary heritage at its best.

TIAN

Vegetarian fine dining

Vienna’s Michelin-starred vegetarian restaurant.
Inventive tasting menus centered around vegetables and natural wines.
Elegant presentation, thoughtful combinations — a refreshing contrast to the city’s meat-centric traditions.

Rote Bar & Grüne Bar – Hotel Sacher

Classic Austrian haute cuisine

Step back to fin-de-siècle Vienna — chandeliers, heavy drapery, and formality frozen in time. Go to the Grüne Bar for the contemporary tasting menu — refined, precise, and beautifully presented — and to the Rote Bar for more traditional dishes of Viennese cuisine, served in one of the most atmospheric dining rooms in the city. It’s the Viennese counterpart to dining at the Ritz in London.

Grünauer Gasthaus

Neighbourhood cooking

A genuine local Beisl — unpretentious, consistent, unchanged for decades.
Grünauer serves classic Viennese comfort dishes with quiet confidence.
Ideal for a relaxed evening among locals.

Closing thoughts

Vienna’s dining scene evolves slowly, but that’s part of its charm.
These restaurants embody what I love about the city — craftsmanship, character, and a sense of continuity.

Tags: Vienna, Austria, Recommended, Restaurants